JAF1

We bought the UK listed shares as it is easier for tax reporting and it is now possible to purchase the UK listed shares under an ISA wrapper so the dividend is exempt from tax and there is no capital gains if you sell them.

For anyone who needs to apply for an ESTA this is the link to the official site which will negate the risk of paying any additional fees https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

Once it's applied, it will show up in your cruise personalizer under the Payments & Credits tab at the bottom under Credits. It will say Shareholder Benefits.

I have looked on the P&O Cruise Personalizer and cannot find the Payments and Credits tab. I have looked at the boxes on the left hand side, which show a green tick after you have completed each section, across the top under the headings with drop down boxes but they only seem to contain information and no links and then on the right hand side under the calendar there are boxes for booking select dining, shore excursions etc but still do not see and payments and credits tab.

Thank you for information. I have sent an email and attached a copy of the Contract Note which is the only proof I have and hope this works and we get our benefit.

We sailed on Reflection last October to Miami and entry into the States was enough to put anyone off visiting. Collection of baggage was muddled and then the queue! US citizens were moving along at a fast pace whilst we were given plenty of chance to stand and 'admire' the walls as we just did not move. The people in front of us were on a b2b and wanted to just spend the day in Miami but then began to worry they would not get a chance to get out of the port before they had to get back on the ship. Unfortunately we are due to cruise in and out of Miami again at the start of the next year and I am dreading it. It is a good thing that flights back to the UK all leave in the evening or we would probably miss our flight.

We do not have a physical share certificate as our shares are held in an ISA wrapper and when I asked the broker who hold the stock for documentation to forward to Carnival they said they do this on our behalf. Their corporate actions team notifed P&O and they sent us an email to that effect. That was the day before the bank holiday weekend and I have not heard anything back nor could I find anything on my cruise personaliser. Yesterday I forwarded the email I received from our broker stating they had sent details with a query to Carnival asking if this had been applied but have heard nothing. Is it possible to check anywhere that the benefit has been applied to our booking?

This seems to be the most serious of the quakes this year and I am waiting to hear from our son if he felt it. He lives outside Auckland and has felt a couple this year.

We were happy as we were due to sail a week's cruise on a balcony and were given the opportunity of anywhere in the world to the end of the following year and an up grade to a mini suite without additional charge, plus our cruise cost back in OBC and what we do not spend will be returned to us. It took us all of 1 second to accept the deal on offer.

We found ourselves in this situation earlier this year and other half did not want to accept and I did. He ended up very glad to take the deal as we went from a 7 night cruise to a much better 11 day cruise and an up grade from a low category balcony to a mini suite plus all our money back and some on board spend.

Good to hear this.

 

Question...are the guides difficult to understand? Is the accent heavy? My husband has issues hearing in general and heavy accents makes it a bit worse for him. Do they speak loud enough for all to hear?

We used SPB for our tours a couple of years ago and my husband was able to hear perfectly. They issue everyone with their own receiver and ear piece so no shouting to a crowd and it is a great system when you are in the museums if you cannot see your guide as they can get very busy. Our guide spoke very good English and although she had an accent my husband was able to follow her without any problems.

If it is any help we booked a saver fare last Wednesday for a cruise on Britannia departing 23rd April and received our cabin allocation today. We had selected a guarantee balcony with sofa and were up graded to a better position on the ship.

We're going on the British Isles cruise on Caribbean Princess in June. Although we live in England and have been to many of the ports before (DH lived & worked in Glasgow for a year and we were in Inverness just last week), we are really looking forward to seeing our country from the sea!

 

We will be elite on this cruise and want to ask about boarding. I'm aware that they have introduced the 'boarding time by deck' at specific times (our C deck is 3.15pm), but will we be able to board when we wish? The personaliser says "Priority check-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated check-in times." Just want to clarify please.

 

I also want to go to Loch Ness (wanted to go for soooo long!). Anyone got any recommendations on tours from the port? I only want to see Nessie and not do other parts of Scotland that the ship tours seem to include (and are expensive!), as we've been to Scotland and seen most places a number of times.

 

Any advice or help will be appreciated. Many thanks and happy cruising.

I am boarding a Princess cruise next month and recently spoke to an a Princess agent about an aspect of our cruise and also wanted to check what happened if our transport arrived earlier than stated time for boarding. Was told they would try and accommodate but could not guarantee an earlier boarding time. If you are on a Princess organised transfer then they are aware of your port arrival time and that will supersede allocated deck assigned boarding times.

I hope you still like Island, but the drydock has ruined her in my opinion. So Coral stands alone at the top of the Princess fleet!

Totally agree with your comment. We booked the Island before checking change of deck plans and really were most unimpressed with the changes. The gym now seems as though it is an after thought 'shoved' in a cupboard, they had left the sign up saying how many times round the deck for a mile but of course they have blocked off part of the deck with cabins. Will not sail on her again.

We were on Santorini last summer and found by getting off the ship fairly quickly there was no queue for the cable car and we walked straight on to the cars. When we were due to go back to our ship we decided to walk down and not sure that was a good idea as we found the stones were very slippery where they were covered in lots of donkey mess plus we had to get out of the way of the donkeys several times - next time we would get the cable car back down.

If you take either a cruise ship excursion or use a recognised local tour company then you do not need to apply for a visa as Princess and the Tour Companies are able to obtain these on your behalf. We were on the Emerald in 2014 and used SPB Tours and had absolutely no problems with getting off the ship and going on the tours. Would not wander around completely on my own as entry queues can be large to the major sites whereas the tour companies are able to arrange the tickets more easily. Have a great trip

Has anyone got any experience as to how strict Princess are with boarding by deck at Southampton? We are on Aloha deck where they are saying to arrive at 3.15 but as we are due to sail at 4 pm this also seems a 'little on the tight side'. Our transportation is due to arrive in Southampton at midday so we will probably arrive at the port before 1 pm and not really looking forward to sitting in the terminal for more than a couple of hours.

We sailed on the Emerald to the Baltics a couple years ago and were given the same scare tactics about not taking the official Princess tours. We ignored their advice and used SPB tours and thoroughly recommend them. They organise the visas so there is not a problem. SPB tours are in groups of 15 in mini vans and you have the individual walkie talkies so you can hear the guides without having to be next to them. In the evening we went to the Folklore show and again definitely recommend it for a great evening out. The recommendation to get off the boat as early as possible is good advice as the queue to get through immigration can be long.

We were unfortunate to sail on the Island after she had been 'mutilated' and would not recommend her. The walk right round the Promenade deck has been cut short with the addition of additional cabins but laughingly they have left the signs up telling you how many times around the deck is one mile. The gym now looks as though it is an afterthought and shoved in a cupboard. We did not have any children with us so did not use the children's facilities but gather they have been downsized. The aesthetics of the ship have also been ruined. We are also looking at the Panama cruise but will not be sailing on the Island again nor would we recommend her.

I was debating posting this for fear of potential flames, but here goes.

 

When we got to Labadee with our 3 kids, nature called for the little guy, so my husband took him in search of a washroom. I continued walking to the beach with the other 2 kids, all the towels, the sand toys, the beach bag with sunscreen and other beach items etc. When we got to the beach, one of the staff asked if we wanted chairs. As my husband had the cash, I was upfront and told the man I had no money for a tip. He replied "No tip, no chair, you can get your own" and walked away. So we did. I had no problem unstacking and carrying the chairs to a location on the beach, but I wonder whether this is something Royal Caribbean is aware of and endorses (ie - only assist guests who tip, others are left to fend for themselves) or whether this guy went rogue?

Read this and we must have had the same person when we visited the island in November but we were on Celebrity Reflection. We said we had not bought any cash ashore and were told in which case we could get our own loungers. We were not impressed with his attitude and just went and got our own chairs but felt it did not portray a very professional impression for guests.

We have sailed a few Princess ships and always enjoyed them but last summer made the mistake of sailing on the Island and most certainly would not sail on her again. The refit is definitely a step in the wrong direction. We had a mini suite under the bridge which had no balcony which we chose deliberately because of the room size but were astonished to find the bath in an absolutely shocking state with the surface cracking and crazing at the back of the bath. We had to complain several times before anyone looked at it and the hotel manager said she was not aware of the state of bath. Whilst in port one day I researched our cabin and 2 years ago someone was also complaining about the state of the bath in our cabin. I reported this to the hotel manager and we were then compensated for the state of our room. We would not sail this ship again nor would we recommend her in her current configuration. Now looking at sailing with another line through the Panama.

We were on the Island out of Venice last July and not at all impressed with her changes. They also took out one of the lounges and moved the gym which now feels as though it is in a "broom cupboard". It is no longer possible to walk all the way round the Promenade deck because of additional cabins yet they have left up the sign saying how many complete rotations of the deck is 1 mile. We have sailed on a variety of Princess ships but would not go back on the Island and are looking at another line to do a complete Panama cruise later this year.

We sailed on her last July after her refit and was surprised they could find enough money to install new cabins, put the gym in a 'cupboard' and remove the ability to walk completely round the Promenade deck despite leaving the sign behind telling you exactly how far once completely round the deck was that they could not find enough money to replace the bath in our mini suite which was badly damaged. We were told by the hotel manager that she was not aware of it but as the ship was full there was nothing they could do apart from offer us back a portion of our fare. We would never sail the Island again and as it looks as though the Coral will also be spoilt in the same manner will look at another line for our Panama trip.

We have sailed on the Caribbean, Emerald and Royal and liked them then las summer we sailed on the Island from Venice and did not like her nor would we recommend her to anyone else. We thought the change was definitely for the worse. I am a regular user of gyms on board but this time gave it a wide berth as it felt more like a cupboard and did not like it not having any external windows. They have taken out the lounge at the back which is a pity and were amused by the fact they have left up the signs on the Promenade deck telling you how far once completely around the deck is when you can no longer get completely round the deck. We had a mini suite which had a bath/shower which was in a very bad condition and on further research on this site found that someone had complained about it a few years ago.

We want to sail the Panama but will look at another line as we will not get back on the Island and it looks as though the Coral is also going downhill with the same 'upgrades'.

We have just renewed our annual multi trip worldwide including America travel insurance with UK Travel Insurance and I asked if we had cruise cover included or did we need to take additional cruise cover. Was told that cruise cover was included in an annual worldwide including America policy but would still check each time before taking out a policy.

We have had one on the starboard side as we were warned about the noise on the port side over the stage in the lounge below. We heard no noise from below and would book one of these cabins again.